NFL football is right around the corner as the LA Chargers will be prepping for the next week to host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1. The Chargers are looking to exact revenge with a much better roster over the Raiders after last year's Week 18 showdown.
It is definitely going to be a high-energy game and is going to be as close to a playoff game as any of the Week 1 matchups. Not only is there naturally bad blood in this rivalry game, but both teams are entering the 2022 season with expectations. The Chargers have one of the best rosters in the league while Raiders fans are convincing themselves that the Raiders have one of the best rosters in the league.
Raiders fans certainly will show up to this game. Because of the team's roots in Los Angeles, there is a heavy collection of Raiders fans in the region and this is going to be the most split crowd that the Chargers will play with all season.
Some Raiders fans are theorizing that the Chargers are intentionally trying to keep Raiders fans from coming to the game... which is ridiculous. Popular Raiders fan "Gorilla Rilla" is not going to the game because SoFi Stadium won't let him wear his costumed mask. This has sent Raiders fans in a hilarious spiral as they try to connect the dots on some kind of conspiracy that is not there.
The @Chargers are not allowing @Raiders fans to be Raiders fans at So-Fi. They can ban the masks, the jerseys and the facepaint. But they can't ban the roar of the crowd when we score touchdowns and they can't ban our trademark chant RRRAAAAIIIDDDERRSSS!! Still our house. 💀 🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/lJwBYcSv8s
— L.A. Raider 🏴☠️ (@LARAIDER12) September 3, 2022
So according to this, the Chargers are intentionally not allowing Raiders fans to "be Raiders fans" at the game. Got it. Let's just take a stroll over to the SoFi Stadium policies page and look at the list of prohibited items.
If you scroll down a bit, you will see that costume masks are, in fact, prohibited. Per the stadium guidelines:
"Costume masks are prohibited throughout the stadium, except for the seating bowl. All costume pieces cannot conceal identity and are subject to security screening at the discretion of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park"
Nowhere does it say that Raiders jerseys are banned. Not quite sure where that is coming from.
Raiders fans are already panicking for Week 1's showdown with the Chargers.
Every Raiders fan knows deep down that the LA Chargers have a much more talented roster than the Raiders heading into this game. Granted, talent doesn't always win football games and a worse team can certainly upset a better team, but it appears that Raiders fans are already trying to build up some kind of defensive mechanism with excuses.
The fact of the matter is that the LA Chargers do not create the stadium policy at SoFi Stadium. It does not matter if it was a Raiders fan, Chargers fan, or even a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, the stadium doesn't allow costume masks. It really is not much deeper than that.
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Raiders fans can still bring their masks and wear them in the seating bowl! They just can't wear them around the concourse and conceal their identity. It really is not much of a compromise for Raiders fans to make, but I cannot blame any Raiders fan for not wanting others to know that they are a Raiders fan. It's been rough this century.